For immigrants working toward the American Dream, some employers are now helping them reach their dream of becoming Americans.

Health clinics, hotels and a clothing factory are pairing up with immigrant advocates to offer on-site citizenship assistance as one of the perks of the job in greater Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and Silicon Valley as they aim to make naturalization more convenient for the 8.5 million legal immigrants eligible to become U.S. citizens.

The effort is billed as a win-win for both employee and employers: Workers avoid legal fees and having to shuttle to and from law offices to complete applications; companies create a deeper bond with immigrant workers and theres little cost as nonprofits pick up the tab.

It is not as simple as you think. There is a complicated process for legal immigrants in STEM fields involved to convert their immigrant visa holding status to citizenship (after a successful green card petition).

There are several categories based on the job description and the applicant’s qualifications that can make the difference between waiting several years (3-6) for a green card versus getting one on priority. A qualified immigration lawyer is the best way to avoid screwing paperwork up and bringing the application to a premature rejection.

I agree with James. I have lots of green card-holder friends who applied right before their GC expired and they told me these “groups” don’t know their face from their asses when it comes to status upgrade of your US petition. You really require a qualified immigration lawyer as it is not simple as many people think.

7
posted on 08/03/2013 10:00:46 PM PDT
by max americana
(fired liberals in our company after the election, & laughed while they cried (true story))

You may go to USCIS and try downloading the applications for a work permit, then the green card, and finally the citizenship application and see how much work and how many papers the whole process involves. One screw-up anywhere in any part of the confusing tangles of selection categories and the application can be doomed, and permanently used against the applicant in future applications.

For example, the work permit involved a prevailing wage estimation process that the legal alien’s application has to include, which has to be filed in advance to the Dept. of Labor and then sent to USCIS. The intent is to ensure that the applicant isn’t being hired at the expense of causing local unemployment. That’s the design of the system anyway. The company hiring the applicant also has to prove it had looked earnestly for a local candidate for several months, including proof such as newspaper ads for the position.

I am aware of this because I work as a consultant at a company in the Bay Area that develops robotic surgical machinery, and they have a few Indian engineers hired who had to go through the process. They were in the US on student visas, them got their EAD approved which allows them to work for 12 months legally, and an additional 17 months after filing what is known as a STEM extension. After that, it was the H1-B visa which allows them to work 3 more years, and then after a second filing, another 3 years. Then the green card under EB2, which is processed faster than if it were EB3 (which has a current wait list / backlog going close to a decade and more), and finally the citizenship application. Up to H1-B, the visas are specifically non-immigrant visas. Doing all of the above without a qualified immigration lawyer is risky and foolish.

I remember seeing a stack of papers no thinner than a quarter of an inch, just for the H1-B filing, and it included an extensive survey the employer had to fill with the assistance of a legal expert because of the myriad definitions and choices that had to be carefully pored over before checking any box. And after all that, this year had a computerized random lottery determining whether the application would be considered at all, in the first place.

“Premium” processing was about $3000 extra, and the government agencies expedited the evaluation from 2-3 months to a few weeks. The company was desperate to keep the engineers and the whole project could’ve been affected seriously if they didn’t have a smooth visa transition process (they’d have had to go home, and it’s not uncommon for that to happen).

Just for our production company to process an entertainment visa for an overseas artist takes at least 10 pages of mumbo jumbo legalese and that requires an immigration attorney. On another note, My GF who is also canadian, contemplated applying for citizenship status as she’s already eligible in years required BUT only if Romney won. She’ll probably end up like my other canadian friend here who is a repeat green-card holder and does not want to upgrade.

14
posted on 08/04/2013 10:57:10 AM PDT
by max americana
(fired liberals in our company after the election, & laughed while they cried (true story))

You may go to USCIS and try downloading the applications for a work permit, then the green card, and finally the citizenship application and see how much work and how many papers the whole process involves
_______________________________________________

Well sweetie you need to tell your illegal alien frienbds that it doesnt work that way...

But if they had gone to the US Embassy or Consulate while they were still back in their own country, Ausie or Mexico or whereever, they wouldnt bew in that pickle..

You dont come here on a visa and let the visa run out and then think Uncle Sam is going to give you a work permit...

It doesnt work that way...

You have to apply back in your own cou ntry...

Plus I think your illegal alien friends are handing you a line...

as for the 1950s, you might remember them old girl,

but I was just a child..

I didnt come back to the old country until the 1970s...

and the process was effortless...

as I had done most of the paperwork BEFORE I ever came here...

no mouthpiece for illegal aliens “immigration” lawyers needed as I wasnt breaking the immigration laws of the US...

When a student comes over to the US on a valid student visa, he or she isn’t an illegal alien. Upon completion of the degree the student came here for, the student gets to apply for what is called an EAD (look it up online to find out what it is). The EAD is a valid work permit for 12 months. If the student had completed a graduate level degree in engineering, he or she is eligible for an additional 17 months of work after filing for a STEM extension, about three months before the first EAD expires (there are application timelines for it). While on the EAD or STEM, the company the student is working for has to file for H1-B, on or after April 1, of the appropriate H1-B cycle for that period.

Once the application is submitted, the student CANNOT leave the US until USCIS has made a decision, and they warn the applicant about the risks of not obeying this diktat.

None of those students who petitioned successfully ran out their visas or lost status. If they did that, they wouldn’t be able to apply for H1-B, period. Their loss of status would in fact go against them during the decision process.

Next time, save yourself a whole deal of embarrassment by avoiding baseless assumptions, sweetie. The lawyers are not bending anything, but merely handling complex paperwork with legal jargon not familiar to most engineers and their managers. Your case is not even in the same zip code as what these people had to deal with. Their employment is based on the fact that they have earned an advanced US engineering degree, for which they already have to be here, in the first place.

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